Longtime Abilene Christian baseball coach Britt Bonneau resigns

Abilene Christian University baseball coach Britt Bonneau speaks with batter Mark Pearson during a game against Michigan State University at ACU's Crutcher Scott Field. Bonneau on Saturday resigned for the position he held for 22 seasons.(Photo: Ronald W. Erdrich/Reporter-News)Buy Photo

Britt Bonneau, head coach of the Abilene Christian University baseball team for 22 seasons, resigned Saturday following his team's season finale.

The Wildcats concluded their first season as a Division I school with a 21-33 record but only 5-25 in the Southland Conference.

Bonneau's career mark was 756-511-1 at ACU. His 22 years as head coach ties him with Hutton Jones, men's tennis coach, as the second-longest tenure in ACU athletics. A.B. Morris was men's basketball coach for 29 years.

Bonneau coached ACU into the 2003 NCAA Division II World Series.

Other highlights include: five Lone Star Conference tournament championships, when ACU was a Division II member; nine appearances in the NCAA Division II South Central Region Tournament; 17 All-American players, including six first-team picks; and six Lone Star Conference coach of the year awards.

“Britt Bonneau put together an amazing run as the head coach of the ACU baseball program, and he will be missed,” ACU President Phil Schubert said in a prepared statement. “He loves ACU and has been a great ambassador for the university and ACU athletics and that will never change.

Buy Photo

Koby Claborn, right, is congratulated by ACU coach Britt Bonneau after hitting a pinch-hit, grand-slam in the ninth inning against Houston Baptist in April at Crutcher Scott Field.(Photo: Joey D. Richards/Abilene Reporter-News)

"He has produced championship teams on the field and terrific young men who have gone on to enjoy tremendous personal and professional success away from the field.”

Bonneau was 26 when was promoted from assistant coach to head coach in 1997 by then-Athletic Director Stan Lambert.

“My family and I love ACU and it will always be part of us. I might not be the head baseball coach any longer, but I’ll always be grateful for my time at ACU, the people I worked with, the friends we’ve made and the players I’ve coached," Bonneau said in the statement.

He thanked longtime assistant Brandon Stover, a former player who coached with Bonneau for 14 seasons until 2016.

"I can never adequately thank him for everything he and his family poured into this program," Bonneau said of his assistant.

ACU ended the season on a seven-game losing streak, but split two games with Texas Christian. In 2014, ACU beat Arizona in 2014, and then again in 2015 with another victory over Hawaii.